James Sabram (Spade)
James Sabram (neé Michael Christian DeClerk) is a metahuman and one of the primary protagonists of the Ochlocrat Initiative storyline. He is usually regarded as the de facto leader and founder of the Ochlocrat Initiative along with Conrad Leuten. Sabram's background as a deep ops agent for the CIA provided him with ample experience and training to act as a private contractor, vigilante, and subsequent "metahero" in the years leading up to his death. During his time with the Agency he was given the callsign "Spade", partially because of the white-black color scheme of his armor. Spade's abilities include the manipulating his own refractive index, and the transformation into two dimensional shadow-like states. According to the primary canon he died in the February of 2018. Early Life What little is revealed about Spade's early life is sparse. Initially in the series Spade suffers from intense amnesia, with only vague memories of his former life. However, during Season 4 it is revealed that much of this resulted from the process during which he received his powers. The few details that are revealed are as follows. Spade was originally born Michael DeClerk to parents Samuel and Anita on June 12th 1982 in the town of Monroe Louisiana. He had one younger sibling, a sister named Ashley with whom he was very close. When he was 19 he was accepted into Georgia Tech, which he attended for three years before filing an application with FBI. It was about this time his sister developed early stage Pancreatic cancer, forcing him to drop out of the academy to get a job to support her. From there not much else is revealed by the text, leaving much to speculation. Pre-Season Life The precise reasons that DeClerk was chosen for the Lemure Tests remains unknown. It is usually assumed that he showed great aptitude when training to be an FBI agent and was thus chosen for his mental and phsyical acuity. However, Sabram later noted on several occasions that during his time with the Bureau he was "an incredibly average applicant, (who) never really showed much potential for field work." Whatever the case may be, in 2003 he was the fourth and only surviving human subject of the Classified Lemure Tests. In the weeks after the tests were completed the so-called "Arlington Incident" occured, during which Military Intellgience operatives seized the Test findings and executed those in charge. Spade managed to escape to New York City where the lingering effects of the tests eventually scrambled his mind. After a failed suicide attempt in a small Brooklyn warehouse, DeClerk later awoke with almost no memory of his former life. Discovering his strange new abilities and intent on discovering his origins, DeClerk adopted the new name James Sabram. After months of painstakingly forging his own documents whilst subsisting on small time burglarly, his talents were discovered by a major business mogul named Alex Mueller. Mueller was a Vice President for a international Export/Import conglomerate called Exxrel. Sabram began acting as an enforcer for his corrupt business deals. Aided by his unique abilities, Sabram committed various acts of forgery, theft, fraud, extortion, kidnapping, and even a few murders. This went on for about two years before he was finally arrested and taken into custody by government agents. The CIA recognized the significance of his powers and skill and offered him a job as a covert agent in overseas operations. Sabram eagerly agreed and continued to work for the agency for the next five years. Given the designation "Spade", Sabram would learn many skills over the years ranging from basic hacking to martial arts. Most of his missions were highly classified as the use of metahumans for foreign ops had not been approved by the UN or United States government. A list of his known foreign CIA operations are listed below. Spade's Known Foreign Ops from 2005-2010 - Juarez, Mexico (March 2005) - Mombassa, Kenya (March 2005) - Unknown, Saudi Arabia (June 2005) - Unknown, Turkey (July 2005) - Aleppo, Syria (July 2005) - Unknown, Morocco (July 2005) - Odessa, Ukraine (January 2006) - Unknown, East Timor (January 2006) - Aguilera, Paraguay (May 2006) - Port-au-Prince, Haiti (June 2006) - Kamchatka, Russia (September 2006) - Somewhere in Tibet (October 2006) - Chittagong, Bangladesh (February 2007) - Unknown, Sudan (December 2007) - Unknown, Saudi Arabia (March 2008) - Unknown, Oman (March 2008) - Peshawar, Pakistan (April 2008) - Unknown, Kazakhstan (July 2008) - Moscow, Russia (July 2009) - Unknown, Yemen (January 2010) - Sikasso, Mali (April 2010) - Somewhere outside Waterloo, Sierra Leone (May 2010) - Last Op with CIA During an joint assault with local Military forces in Sierra Leone, Spade suddenly disappeared. The mission's intended target, General Joseph Koyega, was later found dead in his personal compound. Why Spade went rogue during that particular mission is unclear, though it is thought to have something to do with him being ordered to fire on child soldiers at the facility. In the last year leading up to his depature, Spade had numerous incidents of insubordination which he had been thoroughly punished for. After the mission in Africa, Spade managed to make off with six million dollars that he had stolen from the General's Swiss bank account. Spade would go on to operate as a private freelancer for the next four years before finally being arrested in Yemeni capital of Sana'a sometime around March of 2014. Spade was moved to a secure, undisclosed facility somewhere in Northern Virginia. After being detained for close to three months he was finally released on July 4th, 2014. It was from there he began gathering members for his new pet project: the Ochlocrat Initiative. "Days Gone By" Story Arc Season One The First Season begins with Spade still imprisoned in the secured facility somewhere outside Arlington. It is revealed that Spade has maintained absolute silence throughout his capture, despite the efforts of various interrogators. Finally, Spade offers to expose his clients from the last three years if he can meet "Subject 121" (Angela Bennett). During their meeting, Spade asks her to join his new freelance ops group which he has named the "Ochlocrat Initiative". After some convincing, Angela agree and the two are released under unclear terms. It would later be revealed in Season Three that Spade's arrest was staged by a Secret Branch of the United States Army with ties to the original Lemure Tests. Spade remarks that their release was only on the condition that they respond to any and all emergency high value metahuman breaches called in by the military. After they leave, the compound the Spade and Angela meet up with Nimbus (Evan Brooks) who Spade had earlier contacted via his liason Conrad. It is implied that during the time leading up to his arrest, Spade had been looking into reported metahumans around the world to join him. There are brief mentions of secondary characters such as Bleek and Lazarus, though their names are never directly mentioned. Once the three are together they head out toward Boston via car, where they hoped to rendezvous with independent tech developer Edgar Brighton. Spade had early commissioned him to devise a special All-Purpose transport. It was during this time that the split personalities of Jason Shroeder (Me, Myself, and I) were released in Boston. Whilst the four battled the monstrosities, February and Audrey (Borealis) appeared on the scene. Together they defeated the trio and escaped from the city whilst being pursued by local police. Not long afterward, Spade led the newly gathered team to Dulles Airport where they boarded a private jet intent on flying to the Isla de Prosperidad. Spade makes passing statements about paying off airport security to allow them to pass by unnoticed, so long as no civilians recognized them. Spade and the rest of the team (along with Conrad) eventually arrive on the Island where they set up shop in the former Ocean's Bounty Resort, which he purchased from its former owner, Tomas Bisano. In the months following their arrival, other characters make frequent reference to the rigorous training regimes that Spade designs for them. He works jointly with Conrad and Sir Veillance to siphon funds from various corrupt individuals around the world. Angela notes that Spade started to teach her kick-boxing. Their lessons are tough, and Evan remarks at one point that Spade is "usually tough to please, and often times even tougher to get along with." Months later, Spade notes that he is pleased with the progress of the rest of the team. In their central hub, Spade constructed a monitoring station with direct intelligence feed from the DSA, NSA, CIA, MI6, and "at least six other major intelligence agencies." It is likewise revealed at this point that Spade seems to have some other secret reasons for forming the Ochlocrat Initiative, though no other details regarding this are discussed. Eventually, after running small ops for a few months Spade begins an investigation into the Geocene Genetics Institute. Spade initially plans to lead the infiltration of the Smoczek Druzhina's headquarters in Southern Belarus. However, February convinced him to help him with a personal errand instead. After crash-landing somewhere near the Louisiana-Texas border, February led Spade to a remote industrial park where they ran into January. In the ensuing struggle, Spade murdered the clones January produced to restrain them. Together he and February managed to drive her off, though the incident left Spade embittered toward February. When they returned, Spade made the connections between the Smoczek Druzhina, Macabre, and Geocene Genetics Institute. He identified Dr. Gunther Orbis, the Institute's head, as a potentially dangerous and volatile individual. In order to gather more information on him, Spade left independently for Chicago where he was expected to speak at a conference. Once in Chicago, Spade took on the identity of Dr. Kreuger to gain access to the conference. Inside, Dr. Orbis attempted to give a speech about conditioned human evolution but was mocked by the crowd. Amidst the ridicule, Dr. Orbis released a hoard of small predatory theropods that quickly decimated the crowd. Spade attempted to fight off as many as possible but was quickly swarmed by the creatures. Only by crawling into a nearby vent was he able to escape death. He eventually passed out from bloodloss. The other Ochlocrats arrived in Chicago and eventually found the near-dead Spade. They eventually take him to a hospital where he related everything that had happened. He later breaks out of the hospital with Borealis and, after fighting their way toward the Chicago Institute of Art, leads the rest of the team against the various prehistoric monsters in the city. During the climax of the encounter, Spade squared off against Orbis near the docks. There he saved Borealis' life while also leaving Dr. Orbis to his death. It was under his instructions that the others abandon February after his body is thrown into Lake Michigan (presumed dead). He got a lot of backlash for this decision, especially from Borealis. Season Two In the beginning of Season Two, Spade expressed worry over the newly passed IMDI (International Metahuman Defense Initiative). At time most were still upset with his decisions in Chicago. This would change quickly however with February's reapperance. Later, when in Vancouver, Spade and the others encounter Midas (Stephen Braddock). Spade notes that he came across some of his files and had earlier expressed interest in recruiting him to the Initiative. Season Three Season Four Season Five Powers and Abilities Spade's metahuman abilities manifest in two different ways. The first is his ability to change the refractive index of his body and certain objects which he is in contact with. This way they can appear slightly invisible, although quickly movements often distort this effect. Spade's other power is the ability to "shade-shift", in which his body essentially transforms into a living, two dimensional shadow. This shadow can travel along surfaces, on ceilings, and even through water, though it is hindered by direct white light. Spade's powers came about after a week long treatment in the fourth Lemure Test, conducted sometime in the early 2000's. The Lemure Tests used a synthetically engineered derivative of DH-357. These had permanent effects on his body, allowing him to generate the aforementioned effects at will. His powers are limited only by excess light and his own personal stamina. Both "shade-shifting" and "refractive adjustment" require tremendous amounts of energy. As a result, his use of these powers must be selective as they can easily exhaust him if overused. Appearance and Equipment Sabram has frequently remarked how "average" he considers his appearance. His precise physical features are rarely discussed in the texts. We know only that he has a slim, tall, athletic build, with dark brown hair and a persistent stubble. As Spade, Sabram typically wears his usual stealth enhancing loadout, including black and white mesh body armor, a black ballistics mask, and a kevlar weave vest. He uses a variety of gadget and equipment namely a handgun, retractable baton, a kerambit, mace cannister, and garrot. The rest of his equipment varies per mission. Trivia * For unexplained reasons, Spade hates Hostess. His only comment on this is during the "A Very Extraordinary Christmas" when he remarks how they have "done a lot more harm to this country than people would expect." * Ironically, Spade has an intense fear of darkness. This is first revealed to Conrad in Season 3 * The creators originally intended Spade to be called "Shade", "Smoke", or "Wraith" before finally settling on his current name, claiming that it just "sounded like a lot less bullshit" * Despite the writers frequent reference to the line "I'M SPADE!" (in a deep gravely Christian Bale voice), at no point does Spade ever say this. It is intended solely as spoof of Christopher Nolan's Batman trilogy.